The Last Firebender
by gold.lie.promises
Summary: When Rick and his group can no longer face the Governor on their own, they have no choice but to chase the last person that can help them fight him away. Rated T for violence and language. *Main character was created by me (the girl on the cover)*
1. Prologue

**A/N: Walking Dead and Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover fanfiction. I'm really excited to mix these two universes together to create something really nice. Note that this fanfiction might not be the only one I do with that crossover because there are so many fields to cover, so many events and elements that it'd almost be a shame to stop after only one. So let's do this!**

***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead nor Avatar: The Last Airbender***

* * *

_It's been almost two years now since the world was sent into chaos. Fire weapons inexistent and knives and sticks no longer enough against all threats, humans had no choice but to resume to their old manners: using the elements._

_Benders of all kind quickly became precious and coveted. Soon enough, a Bender Black Market was created, demanding a very expensive price even for the least necessary element. Indeed, each element had its price since some were a lot more useful against walkers than others, but the one everybody wanted was of course fire, making a Firebender a shitload more expensive than any other else. To give you an example, some groups had to do chores for a long time as slaves for the Black Market, had to share or give a great amount of supplies or even sacrifice a very important member of their group to get a bender. But they had to be very careful to what they were doing to have a chance to receive the element they needed and also to stay alive. It was some sort of Russian roulette at the end.  
_

_In our world, it's known: a bender has the same eye color as his element. Airbenders have grey eyes, Firebenders have gold-brown eyes… yeah, I think you get it for the rest. _Everybody has one of these eye color _you'll tell me and you're right. What makes benders' eyes different than everybody else's is their depth: it's as if you were looking through a window at a very wide space. The color is clearer and more powerful as well. Once a monk said that you can see a bender's soul through his eyes… how true and poetic is that!?_

* * *

_When the Black Market began to hunt benders, they fought back or vanished in the wilderness. Most of them being whether unexperienced child or frightened adults thinking that their bending was enough to protect them, they were quickly captured. After one year, most of the benders of the East Coast were no longer free. The rest were dead or had made sure to not be caught by the Black Market by hiding, always moving or leaving as far as possible. Every Firebender had been caught, had committed suicide or had disappeared from the country, afraid of end up slave in horrible conditions for the rest of their lives.  
_

_I used to live in Texas, but that was a long time ago. The apocalypse had helped me to get away from there and later I learned how good for me that was. I already was glad to be welling to leave that place so was I even more when a Waterbender I encountered by a river revealed me that Dallas was where the Black Market's quarters were set._

_After we'd eaten some food and talked around a fire she'd lighten up with matches, I left on my own. Later in the night I heard shouts coming from the shore where I'd left her and knew the Bender Traders had found her. No one will ever understand how relieved I was to not have mentioned I was a bender otherwise they'd immediately have gone after me and chased me for miles considering the great amount of power I'd have gave them if they did. I'd have had managed to get away easily and to make sure to not have them after me at least for a while anyway, but the less people I kill, the more chances I have to end up in heaven someday, so I ran on a long distance before climbing up in a tree._

_When I rethink about that day, I realize just how much I don't have to worry about being found by the Black Market. Never will they think I'm a bender until I'm forced to defend myself. Why? You'll discover later, wouldn't want to spoil everything just now! But wait– I didn't introduce myself, didn't I? I have some issues with good manners sometimes… anyway, I'm Duncan._


	2. Shi

"Finally, you're back." Rick was rocking Judith in the stairs when Glenn and Maggie stepped inside the prison. "You were gone for days, we began to worry!"

"You'll never believe what we've heard in the mountains, Rick!" Maggie smiled as Hershel hugged her.

"Mountains?"

Glenn approached from him and lowered his voice. "If legends are true, it could really end it all with the Gov…"

Rick frowned with interest. He left the baby to Hershel and the three of them gathered at the library. On their way there, they had crossed paths with Daryl and he was asked to follow them as well. They took place at a table and waited for the revelation.

"There's a Firebender in the mountains," Glenn finally said, his heart beating hard in his chest.

"It's impossible, they–"

"No Rick," Maggie interrupted him. "There's still one left and he's there."

"They all disappeared a while ago," Daryl remarked.

Glenn began to lose his nerves, his heel rapidly hitting the ground. "I'm telling you there is! We met an old woman there and she told us everything she's seen. We even saw the proofs with our own eyes!"

"What was an old woman doing there?" Rick frowned.

"I don't know how come she's still alive…"

"But that's not what matters," Maggie said. "We have to find him, he could help us fight off the Governor once and for all. I bet even him would be afraid of a Firebender."

Rick turned to Daryl and they whispered for a moment. Glenn placed his hand over Maggie's and gently nodded. Finally, they had their answer: they'd go after the Firebender.

* * *

_Near my hiding spot was a small cabin all made of wood I'd noticed about a month ago. Until now I'd never dared approaching from it but I knew that, sooner or later, curiosity would take control of my body and would lead me there. That's what happened today._

_I took a first glimpse at the front then skirted it to locate any emergency exit in case the front door would be unaccessible if I had to escape fast. My knives tight in my palms, I climbed the three steps and stood on the porch in silence. The steps were old and noisy so I waited a short while to see if the noise had attracted any undead. A branch cracked feet away at my right and a grey-skinned woman came out of a bush, moaning. I jumped over the railing and killed it in one swift movement. I returned at my place on the porch, turned the handle and got inside._

_The place wasn't so dark since wide windows on both sides allowed sun rays to get inside. Actually, it was a wide room and a small hallway across from the main door. At my left, placed right beside a window, was a table filled with cans, books and candles, at my right was a couch and some more books were spread on the ground. It was a really easy place to scavenge, I felt almost safe already in there. But my survival instinct had taught me to wait until I'd checked everything before confirming whether I were safe or not. I made my way across the room to the hallway and found myself in a small dilemma: there was a door on each side. Both were closed and I couldn't make up my mind on which to open first. For once, I let my bender instinct guide me and placed my hands on both handles. In a swift move, I opened both doors and backed a few steps away in case there were undead hidden behind._

_I waited a moment, my blades raised toward the doors but nothing came out. I frowned and stepped at my left to check inside the right room: a bathroom. I did the opposite to look inside the left room and my heart stopped beating: a tiny old woman reading a book was sitting on a bed. Her hair was grey – like mine, I thought, even though hers were naturally like that unlike mine – and she was wearing thick round glasses. At my surprise, she didn't panic – at least not as much as I did when I saw her there._

_I stood into the threshold and examined her, she did the same from the bed. Suddenly, she closed the book, swung a loose knitted cardigan over her shoulders and walked toward me. I was so in shock that I didn't move, at least she didn't want to leave the room. Instead, she took my face in her hands and looked deep into my eyes. Could she have known what I was? I didn't think so. But she was wise and mysterious and had experience so she knew. "_It's you…_" she said, her blue eyes piercing deep into my soul. "_You are the girl I saw wandering around my home for weeks, aren't you?_" I nodded. "_But you're not only that…_" She lowered her eyes to look at the floor, her gaze seemed lost. "_I'm Shi. May I invite you to drink some tea while we speak?_"_

_ I had no choice but to accept since I was starving and she was inviting me to drink tea. Not a single bender of my kind could refuse some tea – and I think that's why she proposed me some. She made her way to what was the kitchen and placed a kettle, two cups and a tea bag on the table. Shi sat down and invited me to do so. From her seat, she moved her hands in circular motions and droplets of water elevated from a small bucket of water placed behind me. They flew around me and gently fell in the kettle._

_"_I'm afraid I have no more matches…_" Shi said on a monotone._

_Although she expressed no emotions I knew precisely that she was asking me to bend. I didn't know what to do: what if she was part of the Black Market? I'd be screwed. But something in her inspired my confidence. So I placed my hand under the support onto which lied the kettle and a flame appeared from my palm. She smiled. "_I knew it, you are the Firebender._"_

* * *

The rumor had spread fast through the prison and everybody wanted to go on the trip for their last chance to defeat the Governor, but Rick needed people inside the walls to reinforce the place. A few days later, he'd gathered the same people to discuss about the upcoming mission. It was mostly about how to get there, what to expect and what to do in case of an issue. They'd put themselves in a very delicate position: fire was the most powerful element after all and where other elements had failed before, this time not even their most powerful bending would be enough against the potential threat. But they were determined to talk the Firebender out of his hiding.


	3. Two Blue Eyed Women

"How long since you know about me?" I asked.

"About a month."

"How?"

Shi smiled, a hundred of wrinkles forming around her eyes. "I saw burned trunks and I smelled smoke as well." I looked down in disappointment and something else that she read on my face. "You know you shouldn't bend at all or the Black Market may know about your existence."

"I know… I couldn't control myself lately." I couldn't dare staring at her face. I tightened my fists as my body temperature increased. "All the benders away, used, murdered… it's making me want to explode and kill until the very last one of those slavers."

The small flame in my palm bursted into a consuming fire. I was so angry, so upset I could've burned the whole cabin down within seconds, but I wasn't a murdered nor crazy enough to do such a stupid thing

Shi looked out of the window. She didn't seem afraid at all. I thought she was thinking, but it doesn't seem as if she really needed to, as if she'd planned this day for weeks. "You know there's a war going on between two groups?"

I shut my eyes close, the flame getting smaller as I did. "Why are you telling me that?"

"Maybe helping out may help you control your emotions."

The flame attempted to grow bigger once again. "I just talked about killing people and you want to send me out on a war? Where's your logic, Shi?"

She took a deep breath and turned back her blue orbs on me. "Four days ago, two young people came here. They hoped to find supplies – like you, I guess – and I invited them to stay for the night. They told me about a man trying to take their home from them."

"Is he a bender?"

She nodded, "Earthbender."

I chuckled. "I see…"

"I was thinking that maybe you could help them fight him off. Who knows, they might have a place for you then."

"So you want me to use my power to help people I don't know fight off other people I also don't know."

She shrugged. "Yes, sounds like it."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah… I'll have to think about that."

I brought my hand back to me since the water was done boiling. She poured to the both of us a cup of tea and we quietly drank. But Shi's curiosity quickly broke the silence. "It's crazy how you don't seem like a bender, I almost had a doubt when I looked into your eyes."

"I know, I'm… different."

"How come you have non-bender's eyes? And blue?"

"I have absolutely no idea, really! Even my physical education teacher thought I was lying, but that was until I burned his lovely ponytail. Then he changed his mind. Anyway he was way cuter with short hair!"

She laughed at my story and I swear that was the cutest laugh I'd ever heard from an old lady in my entire life. It made me feel so safe, as if the world was not full of undead nor Bender Traders. It felt as if I were at my grand-mother's home, about to make some cookies with some old music.

I miss my grandma… she was such a strong woman. A Firebender, too. Nana Althéa was the one to teach me bending before I started school and then had another teacher – yeah, the one I burned his hair off. She taught me so many tricks and ways to dodge attacks. Oh, she was so flexible and could even run on walls and move very quickly despite her eighty-three years. I was supposed to learn lightning bending for my seventeenth birthday, but the world had gone to shit a few months before. She even knew a few airbending tricks, how crazy is that? Nana wasn't a master Airbender, yet she'd developed the very rare ability to bend more than one element. Those tricks were quite limited to the basics, but she'd managed to mix both of her bending together to create unique Firebending tricks I'd, of course, mastered. Though with Shi, it was a whole different grandma I saw, yet another pretty cool one.

"May I invite you to stay here?" she offered.

"What? Like permanently?"

"Well until you're called to join the war."

I frowned. "Who told you I'd join?"

"So you're joining it?" She smirked and took a sip of her tea as she savored her victory. All in once, she'd convinced me and had known I'd go before I'd even told her. That woman was quite a mind reader!

Avoiding her gaze at all cost, I stood up and shouldered my pack. "I'll be back in a moment…" I headed outside and made my way to my cave to get the few things I'd left there.


	4. Save Your Words, Officer

**A/N: Finally some bending! Sorry for the waiting, school takes all my free time since a while so I do my best with uploading the fics. But here is chapter 3, enjoy!**

* * *

That night, I slept surprisingly very well. I already liked Shi a lot and for the first time in my life, found myself trusting someone extremely fast. When I was back, she'd told me she was a spirit reader and that systematically made great sense, considering just how well she'd read me so far and the reason why she'd looked me in the eye when I first saw her. Maybe does that also explain why I trusted her so fast, or perhaps it's just that she was pretty nice…

In the morning, she prepared soup out of vegetables from her garden and canned food we already had. I woke up around noon and when I did, she was sitting at the table with a cup of tea and a book, my boil of soup waiting for me in front of her. I warmed it up easily and began to drink it.

Fact about me: I never enjoyed using a soup to eat soup, I always drank it. Why? I have no idea!

We spent the day outside in the forest then. She'd shared some water bending tricks with me that could help improve my fire bending and of course she'd mentioned meditation during the process. That woman loved meditating! When we were back from the forest, she forced me to meditate for half an hour. I almost fell asleep and she read it in my mind and then threw me water in the face so I would wake up. _Damn you, Shi_. For the following days, whatever we'd done during sunlight was a reason for Shi to make me meditate: "You've worked hard, meditate," or "It was so hot today! We should meditate to not get a heatstroke!"

No matter how stupid the excuse seemed, she had arguments that made so much sense that it was almost a shame to not listen to her. After the fourth day, I got used to it against my will.

One day, we were drinking tea when suddenly Shi raised her head and looked out the window. Since she didn't say a word, I also looked out but found nothing other than bushes, trees and her small garden. "We have company."

My eyes widen and my heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean by _we have company_?" The thought that I just used fire bending to warm up my tea in front of the window froze my blood. Had the Black Market finally found me?  
She smiled and her traits soothed. "I know them."

I moved to see clearer, looking for the people she was talking about. Then I froze on place and only my pupils moved to stare down at her. Shi didn't move, just watched as nothing was happening outside. I slammed my fist on the table and stared at her, my blood boiling. "That's it, you're a Bender Trader, aren't you?" Fire daggers came out of my fists. "You warned them, didn't you? Sent them some sort of signals and now they're coming to get me, haven't you? But I'm not afraid of them, I'm not afraid! Go on, confess, spit it all!" I screamed, but she kept smiling. She seemed more amused than into some real business like I thought she was. And so once again, I was in a dilemma with myself on whether she really was a Bender Trader or just an odd old woman amused at seeing me frustrated.

Somebody knocked on the door and I turned on my heels to face it. _You're not afraid of them, Duncan. You're not afraid of the Black Market._ The knob was turned and I tightened my fists, in position to attack but with no fire coming out of my hands now. Instead of some evil strategy I hadn't had time to figure out to happen, the door opened and four people stood in the threshold, weapons in hand, clothes bloody.

* * *

Because of an emergency at the prison with the flue, the group had left two days after the fixed date. Gratefully, Maggie'd marked the way to find the old woman's house on the map so it was much easier to find it than Rick thought. They'd been on the road for a day an a half, had spent the night inside the car and after Glenn's confirmation, they'd parked on the side of the road and had walked for hours. As they were approaching from their destination, they encounter a small horde of walkers. They'd hid but had been found and had fought their way out of it. Half a mile later, they'd found the cabin.

Rick climbed the stairs with Daryl right after him and he turned the knob, gun tight in his hand. When the door opened he frowned: two grey haired women were in the room, the older one was sitting at a table with a cup of tea and a wide smile, the younger one was standing in front of him in position to attack.

The younger frowned and turned to the other. "Shi, what the fuck's this?"

"You seem almost disappointed to not have to fight," the older smiled.

Glenn stepped inside, then Maggie so Rick and Daryl followed as Shi invited them to take a seat around the table.

They took place around her and the girl followed, picking up a chair in a corner and dragging it across the room to sit with them, resting her arms on the back of it. Glenn was the closest and smiled at her as she sat, trying to remember if he'd seen her the first time he'd been there. She simply looked at him and then turned her attention on Shi.

"Hello, I'm Rick Grimes. My friends Glenn and Maggie told us about you and your stories and I'm here to see if they're true."

"Yes, they are. I've indeed told your friends stories, but the real question is: did _you_ believe them?"

Rick nodded. "I did."

"Why exactly are you here?"

"My people and I are in conflict with another group at the moment. Their leader wants our home for his own safety, but we can't afford that to happen. He's a dangerous madman and we must stop him before it's too late. We confronted him in the past, but he's too many weapons and people, a lot of them being benders which makes it more difficult for us to scare him away."

"And what do you need?"

* * *

Shi's smirk amazed me. She asked these questions, but she already knew the answers. I wondered why she still asked, then I thought it was perhaps to see how loyal and how careful he was. Even though I wasn't paying great attention to the conversation I'd tend to trust that man, he seemed to be a man of confidence, whether it was the beard or the _Belongs to King County's Police Department_ sticker on the handle of his riffle.

"I need the power to stop him from hurting more people than he's already done."

"What made you come here?"

Rick looked at a long haired man at my right and now I was paying attention since it was getting more interesting. It's as if they were speaking with their eyes. After a brief moment, he answered. "We heard you knew a Firebender and we need to know where to find him to convince him to help us."

Shi chuckled. "Did you hear that, Duncan?"

Rick and his three friends all looked at me and I went speechless. "Y– yeah…" I faked a laugh, thinking that imitating her was the right thing to do at the moment.

"Would you please stand up?" she asked me. I followed her words and stood. Since everyone was looking at me she took the opportunity to look me deep in the eye. It was now our turn to speak without a word as she lightly nodded, as to ask me to show them.

I positioned myself, tightened my fists and fire daggers grew from my closed hands. Everybody's eyes widened and the girl's jaw dropped. I kicked in the air and an arc of fire followed the movement of my heel. I kicked again with my other foot, then punched twice and more fire escaped. To finish, I swiftly turned on myself with my arms opened and joined my knuckles together at the end and a ball of fire enveloped me. One of Nana's special tricks. When the fire'd vanished, I stood there in the middle of the room, waiting.

Rick stood up and took a few steps toward me. "That was so impressive, really. I'd–"  
I raised a hand to cut him off. "Save your words for a worthy cause, Officer. I know why you're here and I'll join you in your war." My eyes met Shi's as if to say _it's all your fault if I'm doing this, but I'm doing it anyway_. She smiled back and winked at me.

I bent to take my pack already set and ready to go as the four strangers waited outside. Before I left, I thanked Shi for her hospitality and she wished me luck in return. "If you happened to come by my home," she'd told me, "don't even bother to knock." At first, I thought she meant for me to never come again, but her tone was so tender and her traits so soft that I knew it was meant for me to feel like home here.

On that, I left with Rick and his people.


	5. Four Walls and a Roof

**A/N: This is a long chapter that had to be long so it'd make some sense. Hope you enjoy the title :P it really matched with the chapter and was better than "Chi Blocking" so Four Walls and a Roof is the new title!**

* * *

I downed the stairs and caught up with the group. When I approached the long haired guy, he swiftly turned and set the blade of his knife right under my throat. "We ain't afraid of you. Try anythin', you dead. Got it?"

Eyes wide and speechless, I searched for the others to come at my rescue and it was only after a moment that the girl rested her hand on the guy's shoulder and asked him to lower the blade, calling him Daryl. He followed and backed off as Rick came to stand in front of me.

"Before we go I'd like to ask you three questions, is that okay?" I nodded. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Do you really think I kept count!?" I answered, already pissed and annoyed because of Daryl's behavior.

He inspected me with his grey eyes and continued. "How many people have you killed?"

"Zero."

Rick paused a moment, like unsure of the relevance of my words. "Why?"

"Why would I kill people when everybody's already dying on their own?"

"She's a typical Firebender, do not underestimate her power nor her cleverness," I heard from behind me.

Shi, of course.

Rick looked at her and then back at me. He nodded and we left. We walked for an hour before we finally encountered a car. I sat on the backseat between the girl and the asian guy. The ride was mostly silent, only Rick and Daryl exchanged a few words here and then on which way to go. I started to doubt on their loyalty toward me and Shi but if she trusted them enough to let me go, then I probably had no reasons to worry, right?

* * *

How could I describe my time with Rick and his group so far… hum let me think. I really need to process this…

Horrible. It's horrible, how could Shi trust them so much!?

When we arrived I first thought it was a joke: they were living in a prison. And what was even weirder was that it wasn't even a joke, they really did live in a prison. After a moment of reflection, it made perfect sense: thick walls, two sets of chain-link fences, wide spaces. It was the perfect shelter for a zombie apocalypse. But for me it really was a prison.

I was kept like a prisoner there, they were too afraid for me to betray them and burn the whole place down. When I got inside the hall, a blonde girl and an old man – I later knew as Beth and Hershel – were waiting for us. Hershel was a very nice man – and he's actually the only one to talk to me with Glenn and Maggie. So we got inside, said quick hello and boom! The blonde girl, out of no where, chi blocked me and I couldn't bend.

"In case you try anything against us," Rick had said, trying to look intimidating. If he knew how not afraid of him I was, he'd probably air bend himself out of the country!

Since then, they kept me in a cell – not like the rest of them, using them as bedrooms and stuff, like a prisoner –, one of my three friends would bring me food three times a day and I'd be chi blocked every morning. What made me hate that girl more than anything wasn't the fact that she was keeping my bending away from me, no. What made me hate her more than the rest of the world was the fact that she liked doing it, the smirk she had every morning as she stood by the door and waited for me to wake up was worst than anything. I could only practice my movements without fire and it felt so wrong, but I was doing it anyway. That was probably the only thing that kept me from exploding.

After eight days in custody, Rick passed by my cell and I vigorously gipped the hem of his shirt through the bars and sunk his face into the metal to be sure he wouldn't miss a single word.

"I don't know where is your logic, Officer, but you should really be aware of the stupidity of your recent acts. Since no one seems to have ring you a bell, let me do it for them: you _can't_ chi block me everyday. The day will come when your enemies will be at the door and I won't be able to protect your ass because I won't be able to bend and that's why I'm here: to bend to protect your ass. Didn't you hear what Shi said? _Do not underestimate her power nor her cleverness_. She said it, I'm a typical Firebender and if you keep me locked up in here, I swear that my Firebender instinct while rise up to the surface and I'll find a way out of here and when I do, I'll make sure you're aware of it."

Rick tried to escape from my grip, but I was determined to keep him within my reach for as long as it'd take for him to understand what I was saying. I could see fear in his eyes, but he tried to cover it up with more attitude. "I'll tell Beth to not chi block you anymore, but you remain in your cell until we need you."

Within seconds, my body temperature dangerously increased, my face got red and my eyes turned darker than usual. I know Rick felt my skin burning against his, but he wouldn't escape with such weak words. And he probably noticed that he only had made his case worse than before. I couldn't contain my rage and so I screamed instead of speaking.

"You let me out _right now_!"

Three days ago in the late afternoon, as I was practicing one of Nana's tricks, I accidentally burned the edge of the mattress of the upper bunk. On the moment, I jumped and looked around for something to extinguish it. It was only after I'd poured water on the sheets that I'd noticed what I'd done: I'd firebend. The day after, when I was done eating lunch, I tried bending and it worked, the flames were small but existent. I wondered how was that possible since I'd been chi blocked. I meditated on that for a while until one single explanation came to my mind: my body'd got used to being hit at the same places for five days in a row and the effects of the chi blocking no longer affected me. So I was able to bend about three hours after Beth's visit.  
And it'd been hours since she'd passed. And I was furious. So I tightened my left fist – the one not busy holding an asshole – and a fire dagger came out of it.

Fact about me: fire daggers are by far my favourite fire bending trick.

Rick got pale and raised his hands in surrender. Now even the cop had surrendered. I smirked. "Will I have to ask twice, Officer Asshole?"

Five minutes later, I was taking a walk in the courtyard. Finally I was outside! I'd spent eight days locked up between four walls in an isolated hallway with no windows. But now the torture was over and I was outside, admiring the place from inside the safety of the fences and analyzing the upcoming battlefield. Though, my mind was disturbed by the sweet sound of a walker being killed and I couldn't help but take a few steps in Maggie's direction. Standing in front of the fence with a metal stick, she was killing walkers through the links.

"Need help?" I offered.

"It'd be great!" she smiled and wiped her forehead.

She handed me a machete that I examined. I thought it was weird that she was using a rusty metal stick instead of the elegant weapon I had in hand and I didn't miss the opportunity to ask her why. At my words, she smiled and asked me to back off. I did so.

Maggie removed the tip of the stick from the head of a grey-skinned woman with two fingers missing and wiped the blood with a rag. Then she took both extremities of the stick in her hands, bent it at the centre and broke it to have smaller pieces. _What a strong woman_, I first thought, but then I saw her on a total different angle when she closed her eyes, loosened her grip on the sticks and made them spin in the air, doing circular movements with her arms.

The faster they spun, the longer they were getting and when they were about as tall as her, she opened wide her arms. A stick went resting in each of her palm and she looked at me with pride.

"That was the coolest metal bending demonstration I've ever seen!" I said, applauding.

"Had you ever seen someone metal bend before?" she asked with a grin.

"I must admit that I hadn't…" I confessed and looked down. She bursted out laughing and so did I.

* * *

A week had passed since I was released in the wilderness of the prison. The atmosphere had got tensed: people trained hard with weapons as well as with their bending, elaborated attacking and escaping plans and guarded the prison. As days went by, more people had been put in the yard and on the roofs and more reinforcement had been placed outside the fences. Everybody was busy with chores, watch, training or spy missions to find any traces of the Governor. Everybody except me.

Rick had gotten more and more paranoid: somedays he didn't want me outside, afraid I'd be spotted in the yard – as if it were obvious that I was a Firebender with my grey hair and my blue non-bender eyes – and other times he insisted for me to rest in case the Gov might attack during the night. In fact, he was the one who needed the more to rest: he had dark circles under his eyes so dark he almost looked like a racoon. One day, Maggie managed to convince him to get some rest and it made me wonder how many hours had he slept since the last days. He spent the whole day asleep and the prison didn't fall apart as he was afraid of. Everybody seemed more calm and focused on what they were doing, knowing Rick was resting.

* * *

I liked to go in the yard and practice some fire bending, but it was dangerous because I may hurt someone and somebody spying on us from outside may discover. So twice during the week I went outside to practice the moves without the bending for an hour. During my second week at the prison I'd found a forsaken storage that was super wide, all made of concrete – just like the rest of the place. There was no furniture and the windows were wide but right before the ceiling that was twenty feet above my head. To make sure no one would come in by mistake, I wrote _Duncan's fire bending training room. Do not disturb _on the door. I went there everyday since I had nothing else to do.

Of course I wasn't allowed to go out so I didn't get to visit Shi yet, but as soon as the war would be over I'd go. I promised I'd visit her and I will, I never broke my promises. As she'd suggested me many times, I meditated a lot everyday and practiced again and again the sequence to redirect a lightning. She knew as much as I did the level of danger that redirecting lightnings involved, but she believed giving advices on how to do it properly was better than advising me not to do it at all. I really miss Shi, she understood me so well! If Rick keeps on becoming crazy, I might go live with her.

Though, there still was that one question that came to my mind every time I was practicing: if I have to, where will I find a lightning to redirect when _they_'ll attack? I didn't know how to produce my own so I had to find a way, some sort of last resort I'd use if we really had to. An idea had actually began to form in my brain, but there were still a few missing elements – actually all of them. One day I took my morning walk in the yard, with a cup of tea, and suddenly all I needed presented itself to me with wide arms.


	6. Someone Like You

**A/N: One chapter left after this one + the epilogue. Please tell me if you like it so far, the mix of these two universes and if you'd like me to write more.**

* * *

I looked away in the distance and contemplated the forest and the darkness rolling over everything with satisfaction. Skies were filled with thick dark clouds and would pour their rain on us in a matter of hours, perhaps minutes only.

There I'd found my lightnings.

Daryl appeared at the gate in almost a rush and I knew something was happening, I only hopped it was what I thought. It could only be that, there were no walkers around, so no reason for such hurry. Tyreese opened the gates to let him through and they began to talk. Daryl's lips were moving fast and he was glancing around from the corner of his eyes, he couldn't stay calm. It was actually odd to see him like that since he was always full of attitude. I pursued my walk, pretending not to have noticed, and eventually passed by them when my ears caught the words "_…_saw _'em_ in the forest_._"

"Say what?" I voiced the words with an eyebrow raised before I could even formulate a proper way to speak my surprise to them.

Daryl stared at me from head to toe, "Stop spyin' on us."

"I wasn't, just taking a casual walk when I heard your conversation. So you saw _them_?" Tyreese nodded and Daryl cursed under his breath, most likely upset that his friend had confessed.

There _they_ were coming.

I couldn't help myself but smile as the words burned my lips to being said. "Tell me, does the Gov has many water benders with him?"

"Many of his men are, yes, even himself. But none are blood benders," he hurried to add.

"How about us?"

"Only Carol and Hershel, but he only uses his bending for healing or in case of self-defense."

"Yeah, in this case he won't really have a choice," I said as I rubbed my chin, thinking. "We'll need everyone that can bend or fight."

"We have many good fighters: Michonne, Glenn, Sash–"

"What's yo' point?" Daryl cut Tyreese off, his gaze piercing through me like a blade. He was still skeptical about me, but I wouldn't fail them if I'd calculated right.

"That Governor, he's gonna try to get as many chances as he can on his side, right?" They nodded. "So if even the weather's at his advantage he's gonna step forward, is that it?"

"Yeah… I guess," Daryl mumbled.

"Then he's on his way and he's probably closer than we think."

"That we already knew," he spat.

"Yeah, but only the three of us. I heard you'd made up a plan, then go tell everyone to get ready."

"Why don't you do it?"

Ignoring his question I turned my gaze on Tyreese who'd been silent for a moment. "I have to find as much metal as I can and I'll need somebody's help. Do you know where to find Maggie?" He nodded. "Then we must not waste any more minute."

We began to run up toward the prison, but midway I turned and yelled to Daryl: "Please, alert everyone!" Although I felt like he was quite upset at receiving orders from me, he shouldered his crossbow and did as he was told. He knew he didn't have a choice. As for Tyreese and I, we found Maggie in the hall and briefly explained to her what do we needed from her. She told us that she could bend the metal bars of a prison cell and I begged for her to destroy the cell I'd been kept inside. So we followed her in that dark hallway and in front of the room of my nightmares when she told us to step back.

Maggie positioned herself in front of the closed door and breathed as if to feel the metal she'd be bending in a matter of seconds. She traced a circle with her right foot and did a similar movement with her hands to bring them at shoulder-height. She closed her eyes and suddenly all her muscles were tightened. It looked as if she were pulling on chains nailed into the ground, but really there was nothing. I heard a metallic sound, like a _clang_ and dust fell from the joints that kept the door in place, but it didn't fall.

Then, she tightened her fingers into fists, brought them to her chest and swung them forward – left hand up above her head, right hand down above her knee. The door seemed to be solidly held still, as if the joints hadn't been touched. Maggie pulled on her right fist next to keep it beside her hip and turned her left elbow so that her left fist would be facing up the ceiling, her back straight. More dust escaped from the doorframe. She passed her right arm behind the left one and extended it so that her fingers would barely brush the bars. Then she moved her left foot to the side to have a steadier position.

For a moment, she stayed still. We could feel the tension in her body from where we stood as well as the work she was doing on the metal. It was quite impressive to see!

To finish, Maggie vigorously brought both hands to her chest and pushed them open forward – palms toward her. Without touching anything the door jumped from its joints and went crashing itself in the concrete wall at the back of the cell, submerging us in dust and causing us to cough.

"Wow," I said as I gasped for fresh air. "That was quite amazing!"

She didn't answer and stepped inside the cell. While Tyreese and I were still searching for air, Maggie extracted the bars from the door so we could use them. We thanked her one last time and hurried to leave the dusty tombs. I was surprised at how noisy metal bending was, I know it may sound stupid but I actually thought it was quieter than what we heard down there. That was a second reason of why I was glad to go outside. But even there the air was dusty and noisy.

"The fuck happened here?" I squinted my eyes to see clearer.

"We're too late."

"How come we didn't get a hint of this?"

"It was too noisy down there." Tyreese sighed in shock as he looked up at the tower in flames. "And I was on watch up there just this morning…"

"Sorry man, but we don't have time to deal with that for now," I told him as I looked at the crowd at the gate and at Rick speaking with most likely the Governor.

We made our way to the others who were all ready to run down the hill and attack as soon as the fight would explode. Our group was separated in two: at my right were the benders and at my left were the fighters. How did I recognize them? The benders had elements they could use placed beside them – huge buckets of water, terra cotta flower pots, a variety of metal instruments – and fighters had weapons such as swords, sticks and knives. I looked up at the sky, my heart pounding hard in my chest, and noticed thicker grey clouds. A droplet of sweat slowly rolled down my back as my heart then began to pound in my ears. It _had_ to start raining.

"LIAR!"

Screams caught my attention and our people ran down the hill screaming and bending as the fight began after the Governor had thrown ice spikes at Rick who'd bended them away with air. Tyreese and I looked at each other and grabbed our metal bars. Meanwhile, Maggie hurried outside with metal bracers on her arms and joined the battle. We sneaked down the hill and found a clear spot near the fences where we could instal the whole thing and put ourselves to work. Shortly after did we notice that we couldn't be both working without protection, so while Tyreese was planting the bars in a 7 feet long of diameter circle I was protecting him from nearby enemies.

When he was done we joined our friends and fought by their sides. I grabbed my knives and pretended to be a fighter even though there was nothing we could do yet since most of our enemies were still behind the fences. But all that was until some guy broke both fences with a truck and tried to run me over with it. I jumped to the side an instant before my body met with the red engine, got back on my feet and ran after the truck, found a grip on the trunk and got up in it. It was hard to keep my balance because of the uneven ground but I still managed to break the window that was between me and the driver and to stick a fire dagger under his throat. Only then did he stopped the engine. I punched him and jumped down the trunk, wiping my hands. "Asshole…"

I looked away in the distance at the fight: benders were still on their sides, but fighters had caught up in the area where the fences used to stand. The Governor had filled a water tank truck and had removed the top to make bending easier, so he and his water benders could still fight. That made me ask myself if the fact that they were there shortly before a storm wasn't after all just a coincidence. But I didn't have time to worry about that at the moment. Now that we had humans against us, I couldn't allow walkers to threaten the people who gave me shelter for the last days.

I ran down the hill, passed my people, passed the Gov and his people and entered the forest where a horde of walkers was traveling in our direction. I threw fireballs in their direction in hopes to stop them but of course they passed through the flames and kept walking toward me. They were probably not powerful enough, my fireballs, I thought. As I was killing the near ones and in dilemma with myself on whether or not do I set the forest on fire in hopes to burn them down faster, the joyful sound of raindrops falling on leaves caught my ears. Without hesitation I made a flame in each of my palms and turned my arms in circular motions until I'd made a huge ball of fire that I threw away. Once the flames had caught on something I bended it even bigger and as I expected, walkers burnt faster. With satisfaction I ran back toward the prison, stabbed a woman who'd wounded Glenn's calf and ran back in the yard, but as I was on my way I ran into an earth wall. I laid half knocked out on the ground, nose bleeding, ears hissing, rain pouring on my face.

"Duncan!" I heard someone shout. "Duncan, get up! Get up now, they know!"

I was pulled back on my feet by a mass of air and looked around me. Rick told me to run but instead I was about to turn around to see what was happening and why did the battle seem to have slowed down for a second, but I was tackled and fell hard on the ground. It was a heavy weight and I hadn't fully recovered from my previous shock yet so I was quite knocked out again, but I fought the pain and tried to free myself from under that vicious person.

"Someone like you will be of great use in my town."


	7. Hero of War

**A/N: Last chapter and the second part of the fight. It all ends here, what will happen? Enjoy ;)**

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I had never heard that voice before, I hadn't seen who was the person over me, but I knew precisely who it was by that statement. And that made my blood boil because no one will ever slaver me. Ever.

I used all the strength I could find to get the person off of me, rolled over and quickly got up on my feet, ready to fight. The Governor stood up and looked me in the eye with a devilish smile. He was taller than I expected and smelled bad and cruel… just as I expected. At that moment I already hated him.

"You're a very fine lady, I almost feel guilty to have find such a beautiful and useful person all in once!" he said as he inspected me. He turned over and gestured to three of his men to join him and I was circled by them. "I'm definitely not leaving without you, no matter how many people of mine I lose."

I looked at the others; all adult men that soon would be dead or highly burnt. One especially was very muscular and I guessed that he was an earth bender. The sweet sound of thunder broke the air and I looked up at the sky then turned back my gaze on my opponents.

"Smart decision to chose three water benders to fight a fire bender. If only you'd been smarter when you decided to bring a water tank truck as a source of water," I teased the Gov.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "And why's that a bad decision?"

Of course, I didn't share my plan and attacked instead by bending down, straightening my leg and turning over, a trail of flames following my move and burning the earth bender's feet so he couldn't sense anything anymore. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The three others had shielded themselves with water and I knew at that exact moment that I couldn't stay trapped there if I had to fight them all by myself. So I grabbed my knife and made a deep cut in the Governor's palm before running away.

I heard him scream to the others to go after me and I tried to hide but there were no place for that. All of a sudden, I felt my movements getting harder and I also felt very cold. Soon I could no longer move because I was frozen on place and one of the water benders went in front of me to contemplate his work – and also to see it melt right before his eyes. I kicked him in the guts and turned to the other as we engaged in a physical fight.

I punched him and he pushed me away, creating some distance between us. We looked at each other for a second before I began to run toward him, but he turned the water on the ground into ice to throw me off balance. Instead, I used that at my advantage and slid on it, passing between his legs and standing up behind him. Before he had time to turn around I applied a pressure on his calf with me foot to make him fall on his knees and then snapped his neck as the other guy stood up, holding his stomach. I walked toward him and back-kicked him again in the guts this time with fire. He screamed in pain as the flames consumed his insides. As I was catching my breath

I felt my body getting hard like a rock. I didn't have control of it, couldn't move my arms nor legs. I tried to look behind me in hope to find the source of this but of course I couldn't.

I was lifted a few inches off the ground, but nothing was touching me. All my weight seemed to have fallen in my feet, making it extremely uncomfortable to be hanging loose in the air. The force that kept me over the earth turned me around and the Governor was standing before me, our eyes at the same height, doing weird uneven movements with his hands. I noticed that his wound was covered with a piece of cloth.

"You're not easy to catch, are you?"

"What did you expect from a fire bender?"

"I expected to convince you to join me before Rick did," he explained.

"How did you know I existed?"

He pretended to think. "I saw hints in the woods."

I cursed under my breath at that and suddenly a question popped in my head: did he know Shi?

"Why did you join Rick's group?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to."

"How could you know if you were joining the good or the wrong side?"

"I didn't know, only accepted the first offer I got."

"Did you ever regret your decision?"

That was a foolish question that I didn't want to answer by fear to doubt about Rick's loyalty. And anyway, it was none of his business. And anyway, I didn't have time to reply: a mass of air aimed at him and delivered me from his blood bending, making me fall to the ground again and reminding me about my bleeding nose. The Gov turned around and Rick propelled him back with his people behind the fences. That must've knocked him out quite well!

"Are you okay?" Rick ran toward me.

"Yes. How's the fight going?"

"We won't be able to hold them any longer, they have too much resources."

I looked up at the sky and then at the thunder. "Alright, then I guess I no longer have a choice…"

My heart began to pound heavy once again as the two of us spread in the yard. Keeping an eye on the thunder that was coming our way, I called Daryl to get his attention and gestured him toward where I had to go. He nodded. I began to run as he hit the ground with his foot and lifted both fists before his face, his elbows blocked. A rock elevated from the ground diagonally to propel me inside the circle Tyreese and I had made. Daryl yelled something to Carol and then all of our people began to retreat from behind the fences and tried to block our opponents. A lightning emerged from the clouds and caught in the metal of the bars placed around me. Then time slowed.

I tightened my fists and raised only my indexes and middle fingers. As my heartbeat beat like crazy, I slowly approached from a bar placed behind me and exhaled right before touching it with the tip of my fingers. Heat and pain quickly flood through me but if I stopped I'd die, so I let all the air that I had left in my lungs out into a scream as I redirected the lightning toward the water tank truck. Electricity caught in the raindrops on the engine, its metal boiled, the lightning caught with the water contained inside, which connected with every drop of rain. Okay, long story short: the truck exploded. The lightning's travelled through every droplet around and electrocuted everybody on the other side of the fences.

Our water benders all sighed and dropped their hands to their sides as our shield fell and rain restarted to fall on our side. All of us were safe and the Governor's army was defeated.

I'd done it.


	8. Epilogue

**A/N: Here's the epilogue. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

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_One month later_

After the attack, it's been raining for two more days, which allowed Rick's water benders to finish to extinguish the fire I'd started in the forest to stop walkers – with success. Hershel'd taken care of the wounded ones and the ones who'd died on the battlefield had been buried in the days following the storm. Daryl and a few more people had gone into the timber and had found the Governor's hideout as well as the ones he'd left there. They'd proposed them to join the group and had came back all together. Carol'd started a bending school to teach water bending and the history of all bending forms through decades and Beth, who'd found the idea lovely, decided to co-work with her to teach chi blocking and fighting to non-benders. Tyreese and Maggie had pulled up a team to repair the fences, towers and everything else that'd been destroyed or damaged during the attack.

Now more than ever, they were all working together to become stronger and unstoppable. They were determined to survive another attack if there ever was another one. They felt alive more than ever and were no longer afraid of death now that many of them had grazed it.

As for me, I'd left two weeks after the event. They were all so grateful toward me and really wanted me to stay… I wanted to either, but I still couldn't get out of my mind what they'd done to me when I arrived at the prison. So instead I found my way to Shi's house and stayed there with her. We arranged the whole place so the two of us would be comfortable. I told her the whole story and she was so proud of me that she wanted me to learn to create my own lightnings. Of course, I instantly agreed.

Glenn and Maggie came to visit us once in a while to drink tea and keep us alert of what was happening at the prison. They also invited us at a party they'd made in my honor again to thank me for what I'd done for them. Shi liked it a lot despite the fact that it was a prison.

To conclude, it's a happy ending. Who knew they were still possible during the end of the world?


End file.
